by Williams Cedar, LLC | Aug 22, 2025 | Sexual Abuse Law
Sexual abuse is a sadly common problem, with an estimated one in six women and one in thirty-three men being victims of sexual assault at some point in their lives, according to the Rape and Incest National Network (RAINN). Unfortunately, many of these assaults are never prosecuted, in part because people do not even realize when it is happening to the people around them. But how can you tell if someone has been sexually abused, and what should you do if it happens?
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by Williams Cedar, LLC | Aug 1, 2025 | Environmental Law
PLAINTIFFS REACH SETTLEMENT WITH DUPONT de NUMOURS, INC. IN HOOSICK FALLS CLASS ACTION
In late 2015, residents of Hoosick Falls, New York discovered that their drinking water was contaminated with PFOA, a toxin in the PFAS family of compounds called “forever chemicals” because of their persistence in the environment and exposed humans. Since then, Williams Cedar has been a part of the trial team litigating the residents’ claims on two fronts: multiple individual suits for illnesses due to exposure, and a class action seeking damages for property devaluation and medical monitoring, among other claims. Defendants included local industries that used PFOA in fabric-coating operations, and the manufacturers who supplied the local industries with PFOA, including DuPont.
By late 2021, plaintiffs were able to settle most of the individual claims with all defendants, and reached a court-approved settlement of the class action with every defendant except DuPont. Now, DuPont has agreed to pay $27 million to resolve the class claims against it. The settlement, if approved by the court, would include $6 million to supplement a medical monitoring program established under the prior settlement. Upon approval, the settlement with DuPont would make the total class recovery $92 million when combined with the earlier settlement.
Williams Cedar partner Gerald Williams is proud to have worked with our excellent co-counsel and to have helped achieve a measure of justice for Hoosick Falls residents.
Williams Cedar is dedicated to helping clients with personal injury, civil rights and environmental “toxic tort” cases. If you need legal assistance with any such matters, please call us at (215) 557-0099 or visit our contact page.
by Williams Cedar, LLC | Jul 24, 2025 | Firm News, Environmental Law
Williams Cedar Partner Says Proposed Policy Reversals Put Millions at Risk from Pollution
HADDONFIELD, N.J., July 23, 2025 — A prominent environmental attorney is sounding the alarm over a newly proposed EPA rollback that could sharply weaken America’s ability to fight climate change — and seriously endanger public health.
Gerald Williams, partner at the environmental law firm Williams Cedar LLC, says the Environmental Protection Agency’s plan to rescind a long-standing scientific finding — known as the “endangerment finding” — would undermine decades of progress in curbing greenhouse gas emissions and open the door to increased air, water, and land pollution.
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by Williams Cedar, LLC | Jul 23, 2025 | Environmental Law
According to a study recently published in Environment International, communities located near military bases in Pennsylvania had elevated levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in their blood. Moreover, more than half of all tested wells used for drinking water had PFAS contamination, with some having levels thousands of times higher than the maximum recommended levels issued by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). An investigation into the health impacts of this exposure is still ongoing.
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by Williams Cedar, LLC | Jul 18, 2025 | Environmental Law
As time has gone on, there has been a growing level of concern over per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known collectively as PFAS. This is due in part to how prevalent these chemicals are, not only in the items we purchase every day, but also in the environment. But what exactly are PFAS, and why are they potentially dangerous?
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